Meadows housing project seeks changes

The market has spoken leaving Jack Oviatt to file for an amendment to the zoning for his proposed The Meadows active-adult living complex.

Initially the project was planned to be strata-controlled tri-plexes, but customers at an April open house on the project indicated they’d rather have freehold homes, and no one wanted the middle units, said Oviatt.

So council now has received the application for the land, at the northeast corner of Lahakas Boulevard and Quatsino, and the plan has been referred to the advisory planning commission and the advisory housing committee.

A public hearing has also been scheduled for Oct. 15 regarding these proposals.

The change to the zoning, from R3-A Multi-family to R1-B Single Family, does go against the housing objectives in the current Official Community Plan, according to District administration.

However Oviatt told council that there’s no one out there willing to develop the land as it’s zoned, rendering it effectively useless until rezoning can allow different uses.

“I realize the new zoning does not meet the present requirements of the OCP but as many of you know I’ve been trying for several years to give the land to developers who want to develop it under the present zoning with no success,” he said.

The housing proposal does tie into needs addressed by a recent housing assessment done for Kitimat, which found the housing stock “is no longer suitable for the aging population and lacks options for persons with special needs.”

The homes would be designed so that they are accessible to an aging population.